MiniSode 2: The Scar
by HelloImSuperman
Summary: Nick find's himself confused with emotions when Ashley falls behind and the survivors find her life my be on the line... Never Surrender MiniSode Series.


_Nick's POV_

_"RUN!" Ellis yelled as loud as he could, but he was late, as I was already doing just that._

_The flapping hems of my pants slapped against one another and slowed me down, but I willed my legs to move faster than they ever had._

_Finally, the growling stopped, and I could slow down to a jog so I could look for my team behind me._

_We had been hit by another tank. Safe room in sight, we followed the mental command our instincts always gave us; "run and shoot". _

_However, we had made the mistake of not remembering that Ellis and I were low on ammo. Once I ran out, I flung the gun straight into the beast's face and tore off like lightening. Coach and Rochelle were dancing around it in a light show of gunshots, trying to distract and confuse it so that it wouldn't know which way to move. Ellis turned to me, with blue eyes full of fear, and shouted at me to run, and the two of us took off, the rest of the team not too far behind. Finally when the colossal giant had been defeated, we slowed down to check on the others._

_"You alright?" Ellis was rushing over to Rochelle._

_"I'm good, I'm good." She nodded and brushed some rock off her arm that was now covered in a few small scrapes._

_Before I could even reach Coach and open my mouth to speak, he stopped me dead in my tracks, just by talking._

_"Where's Ashley?"_

_I could feel the color in my face drain down into an empty pit that had just formed in my stomach. My legs would not move, and my heart and lungs were having trouble performing their duties as well._

_By the time I came to, everyone had already ran off to find her._

_"ASHLEY!" Ellis' voice called._

_"Right here!" she called out as loud as possible, sounding broken, hurt, and I could tell she was having trouble breathing._

_I found her laying near an old frame of what used to be, or was supposed to be, a wooden shed._

_She was on her back, Magnum in hand, covered in blood._

_How had we lost her? Gosh, I'm such an idiot for not paying more attention.._

_"Ashley!" I breathed so softly as I ran to her. "Guys! She's over here!"_

_I knelt down next to her, not caring that my knees sunk into the wet and soggy ground of the swamp terrain._

_"Ashley," I involuntarily said again. _

_She weakly smiled at me. "Hey, Suit"_

_Any other time I know I would have snapped at her for calling me that, but instead, my expression just seemed to twist into a look of horror as I couldn't figure out why she was smiling at a time like this._

_With all the blood on her, it was hard to tell where exactly she was cut, so we carried her to the saferoom and laid her on the table. She was having trouble breathing and was in great need of her inhaler but no one could think straight enough to ask if she had it. _

_Coach made Ellis and I leave the room because there was a chance Ashley would have to take her shirt off, and I wanted to protest, but I knew it would only sound like I wanted to see her topless, when really I just wanted to be by her side._

_"Nick, are you alright? I never seen you act like this 'bout someone gettin' hurt before." Ellis frowned at me, concerned._

_I didn't answer. I knew the only thing I could have said was that I loved her, but that wasn't even me saying it. I wasn't sure where it was coming from, or why I was so concerned. I frowned as I thought and Ellis just went back to some other petty task._

_Moments later, Coach came out and plopped down onto an old couch that was missing a seat and sighed._

_ I just stared at him. Why wasn't he saying anything? What had happened?_

_"She alright?" Ellis asked._

_Coach sighed again and rubbed his hands over his face. "She's fine, she's fine._

_Then, Rochelle walked out, wiping her hands off on an old rag she had found._

_I snapped at the silence. "Well, where the hell is she? What's going on?"_

_Everyone stared and I knew it was because they couldn't understand my concern with Ashley, and honestly, neither could I._

_"She's resting, Nick, I put her on the bed. She just has a deep cut across her back, some bruises, and she's having asthma issues, but she's fine.." Rochelle shook her head at me, worried, and then walked off._

_That night, I didn't sleep. I told myself she was okay, but that wasn't what kept me awake._

_I couldn't seem to understand why I was so worried about her. I never let myself get so concerned with anyone, sometimes not even myself._

_Was I really in love with her?_

...

Nick traced his fingers over the skin on Ashley's back where a large dark line stretched across, then he gently placed his lips on it, before leaning towards her ear, and whispering, "And that was the day I thought my life might as well be over, because I thought I was going to lose you."

**The End**


End file.
